JP3277450B2 - Character input device, character input method, recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character input device capable of inputting character information , a character input method, and a character input method.
The present invention relates to a recordable recording device .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various devices are equipped with a character input device capable of inputting character information. For example, a recording / reproducing device capable of recording / reproducing audio data using a magneto-optical disk as a recording medium is equipped with a character input device, and also inputs character information such as a music title.
In some cases, this can be recorded on a disc.

[0003] For example, in a recording / reproducing system using a magneto-optical disc, which is known as a mini-disc system, a user can not only record and reproduce the sound of music or the like, but also the title (album name) of the disc. And character information such as the title of the recorded music (track) can be arbitrarily recorded. For example, a disc title, a song name, an artist name, and the like can be displayed on a display unit during reproduction. Have been.

[0004]

As a character input device, there is a device such as a computer or a word processor which has a keyboard corresponding to inputtable characters so that characters can be input. For small devices and those with keys mainly for voice recording / playback operations, such as the above mini-disc system, dials and up / down keys are simply provided as operating means for character selection during character input. Some are just for you. In such a case, the user performs an operation of turning the dial or an operation of the up / down key, that is, an increment / decrement operation, and each character can be sequentially selected in accordance with the operation.

However, in such a system, when there are a large number of characters that can be input, such as symbols, uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and katakana, the operation for selecting the characters to be input is troublesome and time-consuming. And the operability is poor. That is, the amount of dial rotation operation for selecting a desired character increases, or the number of key pressing operations increases.

In order to enable character selection by increment / decrement operations, it is necessary to set the character arrangement order. For example, if uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, symbols, and katakana can be entered, the order is "A", "B", "C", ...
.. "Z""a""b""c" ... "z""0""1"
"2" ... "9""!""""..."#"" a "" i "
"U" ... "N" ... Set an order such as "" (voiced sound point) "" (semi-voiced sound point). Then, in order from "A" according to the increment operation. Be made selectable.

However, if an operation for selecting one character is selected by performing an increment operation each time from "A", the number of times of the increment operation becomes enormous. For example, even if the increment operation is performed by turning the jog dial, considering the case of inputting a katakana “disc”, first, “A” is selected to select “te”.
Is performed, and when the character reaches "te", an enter (input confirmation) operation is performed. next""
In order to select “(Dakuon point)”, the increment is performed again from “A”, and when reaching “″ (Dakuon point)”, the enter (input confirmation) operation is performed.
Increment is performed again from "A" in order to select "i", and when reaching "i", an enter (input confirmation) operation is performed. The same applies to the following "su" and "ku". As described above, the operation of selecting and inputting characters is very complicated and time-consuming, and thus poses a major problem in operability.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and a character input device for selecting an input character by an increment / decrement operation .
Character input method, Oite the recording apparatus, and an object thereof to improve the input operability. For this reason, character input devices
The increment and / or decrement operation and
An input that allows enter operations (input confirmation operations)
Input characters are selected according to the operation of the
The character input control means to be specified is configured as follows
I do. First, a first character group having various characters
Characters from the nth character group can be entered
Characters, and a predetermined arrangement order for all characters that can be entered
Set. And incrementing the input operation means or
Input sentence in order according to sorting order by decrement operation
Allows you to select characters. Further enter operation
If the input of a certain character is confirmed, the next increment
Character selection by a touch or decrement operation
From the beginning of the character group that contains the determined character
Let it be started. Example of one character input
For example, "disc" and "disc"
In many cases, characters are continuously selected. So, for example,
Grouping by character type
When the input is confirmed, the next character selection is
From the beginning of the character group that contains the modified character
In this way, increment / decrement
The amount of operation (the number of operations) to be reduced is significantly reduced,
A desired character can be easily selected.

Further, the character input method of the present invention includes a plurality of different
Characters included in the character group corresponding to the character type
In the character input method of sequentially reading characters and inputting
From a character group to a specific character group
Select a character, confirm the selected character, and
The character to which the determined character belongs after the writing operation
Displays the first character of the group and prepares for the next character input operation
So that

[0010] The recording apparatus of the present invention has a recording medium recorded on a recording medium.
Area for recording the title name corresponding to each track
Title corresponding to each track on a recording medium with
This is a recording device for recording names. And several different statements
Predetermined characters included in the character group corresponding to the character type
Enter the next read and enter character
-Input operation means that can perform operations and the above input operation means
Confirmation of certain characters belonging to the selected specific character group
After performing the operation with the input operation means, the
Reads the first character of the character group to which the given character belongs and
Control means for character input operation, and said input operation means
The specified characters sequentially entered and confirmed by
Recording means for recording in the area.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. This example will be described as a recording / reproducing device equipped with a character input device. This recording and playback device
A mini disk recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording and reproducing audio data using a magneto-optical disk as a recording medium. The character input device included therein can input characters such as a track name corresponding to an audio data track or a disc, and a song name or a disc title as a disc name. The description will be made in the following order. 1. 1. Example of a recording / reproducing device equipped with a character input device 2. U-TOC sector 3. Order of input characters Character input operation

1. Example of a recording / reproducing apparatus equipped with a character input device First, a configuration of a mini-disc recording / reproducing apparatus suitable for mounting the character input device of the present example will be described.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the appearance of a stationary recording / reproducing apparatus. A display unit 20 such as a liquid crystal display device is formed on a front panel of the recording / reproducing apparatus. The display section 20 shows the operation mode state of the recording / reproducing disc, the track number, the recording time / reproduction time, the editing operation state, and the like. Further, as will be described later, character information can be recorded on the disk, and display of input characters when the character information is input, display of character information read from the disk, and the like are executed.

On the front panel, there are provided a terminal section 21 for headphone output and microphone input, etc., and a disc insertion section 22 for inserting a disc into the recording / reproducing apparatus and detaching the disc in response to operation of an eject key 23. ing.

Various operation means are provided on the front panel. That is, a playback / pause key 24, a stop key 25, a recording key 26 for a playback operation and a pause operation, and an AMS operation dial 27 for executing a heading access operation.
(Hereinafter referred to as a jog dial), a search key 28 for executing a high-speed reproduction operation, and the like. These are basic operation keys related to a so-called audio recording / reproducing operation. The jog dial 26 is turned to A
An operation unit for instructing MS (head search) is provided. In a disc name input mode or a track name input mode to be described later, a rotation operation of the jog dial 26 is an increment / decrement operation for character selection. The jog dial 26 can be pressed, and the pressing operation functions as an enter operation in a disc name input mode or a track name input mode.

An edit key 29 is provided for calling and ending various editing modes. Further, a yes key 30 and a cancel key 31 used for an editing operation and the like are prepared.

The character input is one of the edit modes, and the edit key 29 is used to call the disc name input mode or the track name input mode. Then, character input is performed. As described above, the jog dial 27 is used for the character input operation. For example, every time the jog dial 27 is turned right one click, an increment operation of one step is performed, and every time the jog dial 27 is turned left one click, a decrement operation of one step is performed. Becomes For example, an increment or decrement operation of several to several tens steps is executed by one rotation of the jog dial 27. Various characters such as alphabets, numbers, symbols, and katakana are sequentially selected and displayed on the display unit 20 at each step. Then, for example, by performing an enter operation of pressing the jog dial 27 while displaying a certain character, the character input is determined.

In this manner, characters are input one by one, and the input character string is determined by an operation such as pressing the edit key 29 or the yes key 30 at a certain point in time.
Will be written to disk. Note that the input operation procedure is not limited to this, and various types can be considered according to the type of keys provided. For example, an increment / decrement operation for character selection may be performed by a pressing operation of an up / down key or the like, instead of a rotating operation using the jog dial 27.

The character input device of the present embodiment is suitable for a device in which input characters are sequentially designated in accordance with an increment / decrement operation such as a dial rotation operation as in the example of FIG. It will be.

The internal structure of the mini disc recording / reproducing apparatus as shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The magneto-optical disk 1 on which audio data is recorded is driven to rotate by a spindle motor 2. Then, the recording /
At the time of reproduction, a laser beam is irradiated by the optical head 3.

The optical head 3 performs a high-level laser output for heating a recording track to the Curie temperature during recording, and a relatively low-level laser for detecting data from reflected light by a magnetic Kerr effect during reproduction. Perform output. Therefore, the optical head 3 is equipped with a laser diode as a laser output unit, an optical system including a polarizing beam splitter and an objective lens, and a detector for detecting reflected light. The objective lens 3a is 2
It is held by a shaft mechanism 4 so as to be displaceable in the radial direction of the disk and in the direction of coming into contact with and separating from the disk.

A magnetic head 6a is disposed at a position facing the optical head 3 with the disk 1 interposed therebetween. The magnetic head 6a performs an operation of applying a magnetic field modulated by the supplied data to the magneto-optical disk 1. The entire optical head 3 and the magnetic head 6a can be moved in the disk radial direction by the thread mechanism 5.

The information detected from the disk 1 by the optical head 3 by the reproducing operation is supplied to the RF amplifier 7. The RF amplifier 7 performs an arithmetic operation on the supplied information,
A reproduction RF signal, a tracking error signal TE, a focus error signal FE, groove information (absolute position information recorded as a pre-groove (wobbling groove) on the magneto-optical disk 1) GFM, and the like are extracted. The extracted reproduced RF signal is supplied to the encoder / decoder section 8. Further, the tracking error signal TE and the focus error signal FE are supplied to the servo circuit 9, and the groove information GFM is supplied to the address decoder 10.

The servo circuit 9 is provided with the supplied tracking error signal TE and focus error signal FE, and the system controller 1 composed of a microcomputer.
Various servo drive signals are generated based on a track jump command, an access command, rotation speed detection information of the spindle motor 2 and the like from the controller 1 to control the two-axis mechanism 4 and the sled mechanism 5 to perform focus and tracking control. 2 is controlled to a constant linear velocity (CLV).

The address decoder 10 decodes the supplied groove information GFM to extract address information.
This address information is supplied to the system controller 11 and used for various control operations. The reproduced RF signal is subjected to decoding processing such as EFM demodulation and CIRC in the encoder / decoder section 8. At this time, addresses, subcode data, and the like are also extracted and supplied to the system controller 11.

EFM demodulation in the encoder / decoder section 8
The decoded audio data (sector data) such as CIRC is temporarily written into the buffer memory 13 by the memory controller 12. The reading of data from the disk 1 by the optical head 3 and the transfer of reproduced data in the system from the optical head 3 to the buffer memory 13 are at 1.41 Mbit / sec, and are usually performed intermittently.

The data written in the buffer memory 13 is read out at a timing when the transfer of the reproduction data becomes 0.3 Mbit / sec, and is supplied to the encoder / decoder section 14. Then, the signal is subjected to reproduction signal processing such as decoding processing for the audio compression processing, converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 15, supplied from the output terminal 16 to a predetermined amplification circuit section, and reproduced and output. For example, they are output as L, R analog audio signals.

When a recording operation is performed on the magneto-optical disk 1, the recording signal (analog audio signal) supplied to the input terminal 17 is converted into digital data by the A / D converter 18 and then converted to digital data. Encoder / decoder unit 1
4 and subjected to audio compression encoding processing. The recording data compressed by the encoder / decoder section 14 is temporarily written to the buffer memory 13 by the memory controller 12, read out at a predetermined timing, and sent to the encoder / decoder section 8. After being subjected to encoding processing such as CIRC encoding and EFM modulation in the encoder / decoder section 8, it is supplied to the magnetic head drive circuit 6.

The magnetic head drive circuit 6 supplies a magnetic head drive signal to the magnetic head 6a in accordance with the encoded recording data. That is, the application of the N or S magnetic field to the magneto-optical disk 1 by the magnetic head 6a is performed. At this time, the system controller 11 supplies a control signal to the optical head so as to output a laser beam at a recording level.

The operation unit 19 indicates a part to be operated by a user, and corresponds to various operation keys and dials as described with reference to FIG. Operation information from these operation keys and dials is supplied to the system controller 11, and the system controller 11 executes operation control according to the operation information. The display unit 20 is provided on a housing as shown in FIG. 1, and this display operation is controlled by the system controller 11.

When performing a recording / reproducing operation on the disc 1, management information recorded on the disc 1, that is, P-TOC (pre-mastered TOC), U-
It is necessary to read out the TOC (user TOC). The system controller 11 determines the address of the area to be recorded on the disk 1 and the address of the area to be reproduced according to the management information. This management information is held in the buffer memory 13. For this reason, in the buffer memory 13, a buffer area for the recording data / reproduced data and an area for holding these management information are divided and set. Then, when the disk 1 is loaded, the system controller 11 reads out the information by executing a reproduction operation on the innermost peripheral side of the disk on which the management information is recorded, and stores the information in the buffer memory 13. Thereafter, it can be referred to at the time of recording / reproducing operation on the disc 1.

The U-TOC is edited and rewritten in accordance with recording or erasing of data. The system controller 11 performs this editing process every time a recording / erasing operation is performed. The rewriting operation is performed on the -TOC information, and the U-TOC area of the disc 1 is also rewritten at a predetermined timing in accordance with the rewriting operation.

2. U-TOC Sector Here, the U-TOC sector for managing the recording / reproducing operation of the audio data and the like on the disk 1 will be described. Note that the TOC information on the disc 1 is U
-TOC and P-TOC are provided.
OC is formed in the innermost pit area of the disk 1 and is read-only information. And P-TOC
Thus, the position of a recordable area (recordable user area), a lead-out area, a U-TOC area, and the like of the disc are managed. Detailed description of P-TOC is omitted.

As the U-TOC sector, sectors 0 to 0
Up to sector 7 can be provided. And sector 0
Is an area which is always necessary for the recording / reproducing operation of the disk 1. Sectors 1 and 4 are character information, and sector 2 is an area for recording the recording date and time. First, the U-TOC required for the recording / reproducing operation of the disc 1
The sector 0 will be described.

FIG. 7 shows the format of U-TOC sector 0. The U-TOC sector 0 is a data area in which management information is mainly recorded on music recorded by the user and on free areas in which new music can be recorded. For example, when recording a certain music on the disk 1, the system controller 11
A free area on the disk is searched for from U-TOC sector 0, and audio data is recorded there. At the time of reproduction, the area in which the music to be reproduced is recorded is determined from U-TOC sector 0, and the reproduction operation is performed by accessing the area.

The data area (4 bytes × 588, 2352 bytes) of the U-TOC sector 0 has all 0s at the head position.
Alternatively, a synchronization pattern in which all 1-byte data are formed side by side is recorded. Then the cluster address (Clust
er H) (Cluster L) and an address to be a sector address (Sector) and mode information (MODE) are added by 4 bytes,
This is the header.

A sector is a data unit of 2352 bytes, and 36 sectors constitute one cluster. Regarding the synchronization pattern and address, this U-TOC sector 0
Not only that, but also a P-TOC sector and a data sector in which audio data is actually recorded are recorded on a sector basis. The cluster address is the upper address (Clu
ster H) and the lower address (Cluster L) are described in two bytes, and the sector address (Sector) is described in one byte.
Subsequently, at a predetermined byte position, a maker code, a model code, a track number (First TNO) of the first track, a track number (Last TNO) of the last track, a used sector, a disk serial number, a disk ID, etc. Is recorded.

Further, in order to identify the area (free area) or the like of a track (music, etc.) recorded by the user by making it correspond to a management table section described later, various tables are used as a correspondence table instruction data section. Pointers (P-DFA, P-EMPTY, P-FRA, P-TNO1 to P-TN
O255) is recorded.

The table pointer (P-DFA to P-TNO25)
5) (01h)
There are provided 255 parts tables from (FFh) to (FFh). In each of the parts tables, a start address serving as a starting point, an end address serving as an end, and mode information (track mode) of the part are recorded. ing. In addition, since the parts indicated in each part table may be successively connected to other parts, link information indicating the part table in which the start address and the end address of the connected parts are recorded can be recorded. Have been. In the present specification, the numerical value with “h” is in a so-called hexadecimal notation. Further, a part refers to a track portion in which temporally continuous data is physically continuously recorded in one track.

In this type of recording / reproducing device, even if the data of one music piece is physically discontinuous, that is, even if it is recorded over a plurality of parts, it is reproduced while accessing between parts, so that the reproducing operation is hindered. Therefore, the music or the like recorded by the user may be recorded in a plurality of parts for the purpose of efficient use of the recordable area.

Therefore, link information is provided, and the part tables can be connected by designating the part tables to be connected, for example, by the numbers (01h) to (FFh) given to the respective part tables.
In other words, in the management table section in the U-TOC sector 0, one parts table represents one part. For example, for a music composed of three parts connected, three parts connected by link information The position of the part is managed by the table. Note that the link information is actually indicated by a numerical value which is a byte position in the U-TOC sector 0 by a predetermined arithmetic processing. That is, the part table is designated as 304+ (link information) × 8 (byte).

Each part table from (01h) to (FFh) in the management table section of the U-TOC sector 0 is a table pointer (P-DF) in the corresponding table instruction data section.
A, P-EMPTY, P-FRA, P-TNO1 ~ P-TNO255)
The contents of the part are shown as follows.

The table pointer P-DFA is shown for a defective area on the magneto-optical disk 1, and is a single part table or a plurality of part tables indicating a track portion (= part) which becomes a defective area due to a scratch or the like. The first part table in the box is specified. In other words, if there is a defective part, (01h) to
Either (FFh) is recorded, and the corresponding parts table indicates the defective part by the start and end addresses. If another defective part exists, another part table is designated as link information in the part table, and the defective part is also shown in the part table. If there is no other defective part, the link information is, for example, "(0
0h)]], and there is no link thereafter.

The table pointer P-EMPTY indicates the head part table of one or a plurality of unused part tables in the management table section. If there is an unused part table, the table pointer P-EMPTY is set as the table pointer P-EMPTY. , (01h) to (FFh) are recorded.
If there are multiple unused part tables, the part table specified by the table pointer P-EMPTY is sequentially specified by link information, and all unused part tables are connected on the management table section Is done.

The table pointer P-FRA indicates a free area (including an erase area) where data can be written on the magneto-optical disk 1, and a track 1 (= part) indicating a free area track portion (= part) is indicated. The first part table in multiple parts tables is specified. That is,
Table pointer P-FRA if free area exists
, Any one of (01h) to (FFh) is recorded.
In the corresponding parts table, parts as free areas are indicated by start and end addresses. Also, if there are a plurality of such parts, that is, if there are a plurality of parts tables,
The link information is sequentially specified up to the parts table where "(00h)" is displayed.

FIG. 8 schematically shows the management state of parts that are free areas by using a parts table. This is because when the part (03h) (18h) (1Fh) (2Bh) (E3h) is set as a free area, this state follows the corresponding table instruction data P-FRA and the parts table (03h) (18h) (1Fh) The state represented by the link of (2Bh) (E3h) is shown. The above-described management of the defective area and the unused parts table is the same.

By the way, if it is a magneto-optical disk in which audio data such as music is not recorded at all and has no defect,
Parts table (01h) by table pointer P-FRA
This indicates that the entire recordable user area of the disc is a free area. In this case, since the remaining part tables (02h) to (FFh) are not used, the part table (02h) is designated by the above-mentioned table pointer P-EMPTY, and the part table (02h) is not used. The parts table (03h) is specified as link information, and so on, so that the parts table (FFh) is linked. In this case, the link information of the parts table (FFh) is set to "(00h)" indicating that there is no connection thereafter. At this time, the parts table (0
As for 1h), the start address of the recordable user area is recorded as the start address, and the address immediately before the lead-out start address is recorded as the end address.

Table pointers P-TNO1 to P-TNO255 indicate tracks such as songs recorded on the magneto-optical disk 1 by the user.
In P-TNO1, a parts table indicating a temporally leading part of one or a plurality of parts on which data of the first track is recorded is designated. For example, the track set as the first track is not divided on the disc,
In other words, if recorded in one part, the first
The recording area of the track is recorded as a start and end address in the parts table indicated by the table pointer P-TNO1.

For example, when a music piece set as the second track is discretely recorded on a plurality of parts on a disc, each part is designated in a temporal order to indicate the recording position of the second track. Is done. In other words, from the part table specified by the table pointer P-TNO2, another part table is sequentially specified by the link information according to the temporal order, and linked to the part table in which the link information is "(00h)". (Same form as in FIG. 8 above). In this way, for example, since all the parts on which the data constituting the second tune are recorded are sequentially designated and recorded, the data of the U-TOC sector 0 can be used to reproduce the second tune or the second tune. When performing overwrite recording on the area, it is possible to access the optical head 3 and the magnetic head 6 to extract continuous music information from discrete parts, and to perform recording using the recording area efficiently.

Next, FIG. 9 shows the format of the U-TOC sector 1. This sector is used as a data area for recording input character information when a track name or a disc title is given to each recorded track.

In this U-TOC sector 1, slot pointers P-TNA1 to P-TNA255 are prepared as a character slot indication data portion corresponding to each recorded track, and the slot pointers P-TNA1 to P-TNA255 are provided. Are prepared as slots (01h) to (FFh) in units of 8 bytes and 255 units, and manages character data in substantially the same manner as the U-TOC sector 0 described above.

In the slots (01h) to (FFh), character information as a disc title or a track name is recorded in ASCII code. The 8 bytes before the slot (01h) are a dedicated area for the disc name. And
For example, a character specified by the user corresponding to the first track is recorded in the slot specified by the slot pointer P-TNA1. Further, by linking the slots by the link information, the character input corresponding to one track can be handled even if it is larger than 7 bytes (7 characters). In this U-TOC sector 1, the slot pointer P-EMPTY manages unused slots.

In addition to the U-TOC sector 1,
As the data area for recording the input character information,
A U-TOC sector 4 is provided. The format of the U-TOC sector 4 is almost the same as that of FIG. 9, but this sector stores code data corresponding to kanji and European characters. In addition to the data of the sector 1 of FIG. The attribute of the character code used as the character code is recorded at the position.

In the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the user records character information such as a track name for each track recorded on the disk with respect to the disk having the U-TOC information as described above. be able to. That is, when the user designates a track by operating the operation unit 19 and inputs character information, the character is recorded corresponding to the designated track in the U-TOC sector 1. When character information is input without specifying a track, the character is recorded in U-TOC sector 1 as a character corresponding to the disk.

3. Arrangement Order of Input Characters In the recording / reproducing device corresponding to the disk 1 as described above, the character input device of the present example includes a character selecting operation unit in the operation unit 19, a system controller 11 and a display unit 2.
0. The character selecting operation means corresponds to the jog dial 27 in the case of a device as shown in FIG.

In such a character input device, for example, uppercase alphabetical characters "A" to "Z", "a" to
Lowercase alphabet “z”, numbers “0” to “9”, “! """(blank)","". "/""("
Various symbols such as ")", "%", "...", "A", "I"
It is possible to input katakana "U".... Each character is represented as 8-bit data on an ASCII code on the system, and the U-TOC described above is used.
Or reading from the U-TOC.

In this example, the system controller 11 determines the character arrangement order for selecting these inputtable characters. When the character input mode is set, the system controller 11 performs an increment / decrement operation from the operation unit 19. Each character is designated in turn in response.

The system controller 11 sets the order of the inputtable characters as shown in FIG. First,
Uppercase alphabetical letters “A” to “Z” are arranged, and then lowercase alphabetical letters “a” to “z” are arranged. Subsequently, numbers “0” to “9” are arranged, and then “!” """And other symbols, and finally" A "and" I "
"U" ..... Katakana is arranged.

In such an arrangement order, the characters are classified into groups for each character type. That is, upper case alphabets of “A” to “Z” are changed to upper case group GP1, “a”
~ Lowercase group GP
2. The numbers "0" to "9" are referred to as a number group GP3, various symbols are referred to as a symbol group GP4, and katakana is referred to as a katakana group GP5.

When the jog dial 27 is incremented in the arrangement order as shown in FIG. 3, the characters to be selected are sequentially changed in the arrangement order. On the other hand, when the decrement operation is performed, the characters in the selected state are sequentially changed in the reverse order of the arrangement order. Although the system controller 11 may actually have a memory table as shown in FIG. 3, it is not necessary to actually have a memory table in which ASCII codes of each character are arranged, and the system controller 11 performs an increment / decrement operation. Various characters may be designated in the order shown in FIG. 3 in accordance with the corresponding numerical value change. Also, the groups GP1 to GP1
The setting of GP5 does not require adding a group identification code or the like to actual character data, and means for identifying a group to which a character belongs when a certain character is designated is taken. I just need. In particular, in the case of the present example, any form may be used as long as it is possible to determine the first character in the order of arrangement in FIG.

4. Character Input Operation The character input operation of the character input device of the present embodiment in response to the operation of the jog dial 27 by the user will be described. Character input is performed when, for example, the name of a certain track (song) recorded on the disk 1 is input. For example, when the user operates the edit key 29 in a character input mode in a state where a certain track number is specified, character input corresponding to the track can be performed.

Then, as described below, the user performs a character input operation and terminates the character input mode when necessary characters are input, so that the U-TOC sector 1 on the disc 1 It will be recorded as the character which did. Alternatively, if the character input mode is set without specifying a track, character input corresponding to a disc, for example, character input such as an album title can be performed.

The character input operation when no character is input for a certain track will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. FIG. FIG. 4 shows the operation of the system controller 11 as character input control means of the character input device. FIG. 5 schematically illustrates the operation at the time of character input, and FIG. 6 shows the display unit 20 at the time of character input.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a character display state in FIG.

When the user enters the character input mode by performing an operation to enter the character input mode, the system controller 11 starts the processing shown in FIG. First, step F101
Thus, "A" which is the first character in the arrangement order shown in FIG. 3 is displayed. This state is the state indicated by the display pointer DP1 in FIG. 5, and the display unit 20 is as shown in FIG.

The display pointer DP (x) shown in FIG.
Is a pointer for designating a character to be displayed according to a numerical value that is changed by an increment / decrement operation of the jog dial 27. This pointer is for explanation, and in actual software processing,
The numerical value that is changed by the increment / decrement operation of the jog dial 27 has a function of designating a character to be displayed. In FIG. 9A, the character “A” is displayed in a blinking state, but in this example, the character that is being selected by the jog dial 27 and the enter operation has not been performed is displayed in a blinking manner. It depends on what you are doing.

The following processing will be described by taking as an example the case where the character "Texas 21" is input from the character input mode. The user sees FIG. 9 (a)
Is displayed, the jog dial 27 is first operated to select the character "T". The system controller 11 displays the character specified for each click in response to the operation of the jog dial 27. This is the processing of steps F104 and F105 in FIG. In other words, for each rotation of the jog dial 27 for one click (for every 1 / n rotation if one rotation is n clicks), the display of the first character is changed from "A" to "B" in the arrangement order shown in FIG. → "C" →
It changes from “D” to “E”.

As a process of the system controller 11, the display pointer (actually the count value) is changed to the DP as indicated by an arrow INC in FIG. 5 in accordance with the increment operation.
Move from the state of 1. The character indicated by the display pointer in FIG. 5 is the character displayed on the display unit 20 as it is.
(A) → (b) →... → (c).

When the user continues the operation of rotating the jog dial 27 and the state indicated by the display pointer DP2 is reached, the display section 20 changes to the state shown in FIG. 9C, and "te" is displayed as the first character. I have.

Here, when the user presses the jog dial 27 to perform an enter operation, the system controller 11 determines that the input of the first character is "te".
(F103 → F106). Then, every time the input of one character is determined as described above, the process proceeds to step F107, and the process proceeds to step F107.
In F107, F108, and F109, it is determined which of the groups GP1 to GP5 contains the character whose input has been confirmed (entered). In steps F110 to F112, processing corresponding to the determination is performed.

That is, the entered character is group GP2
In step F110, the group G is displayed as the next character display on the display unit 20.
"A" at the beginning of P2 is displayed, and if the entered character is a number in group GP3, step F1
As 11, “0”, which is the head of the group GP3, is displayed as the next character display on the display unit 20. If the entered character is katakana of the group GP5, the next character on the display unit 20 is displayed as step F112. “A” which is the head of the group GP5 is displayed as a character display. Then, the process returns to step F102.

On the other hand, the entered character is the group GP
If it is 1 or group 4, that is, uppercase letters or symbols, the flow returns to step F101 to display “A” at the head of group GP1 as the next character display on the display unit 20.

When the character "te" is entered as described above, the process proceeds to step F112, and the display pointer in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9D, "A" is displayed as the second character.

Next, the user performs a necessary rotation operation with the jog dial 27 in order to select the second character "", so that "" is displayed on the display section 20. The system controller 11 performs the processing of steps F104 and F105 in response to the increment operation. Then, when the display pointer DP4 is reached in FIG. 5 by the increment operation, the display unit 20 is in a state of displaying "" as the second character as shown in FIG. 9E. If the enter operation is performed here, the input of "" is confirmed (F103, F106).
Since this is also katakana, the process of the system controller 11 proceeds to step F112, and then proceeds to step F1.
Return to 02. Accordingly, the display pointer is in the state of DP5 in FIG. 5, and the display unit 20 is in the state where "A" is displayed at the position of the third character as shown in FIG. 9F.

Next, the user performs a necessary rotation operation with the jog dial 27 in order to select the third character “sa”, so that the display unit 20 displays “sa”. The system controller 11 performs the processing of steps F104 and F105 in response to the increment operation. When the display pointer DP6 is reached in FIG. 5 by the increment operation, the display unit 20 is in a state of displaying “sa” as the third character as shown in FIG. 9G. Here, when the enter operation is performed, the input of “sa” is determined (F103, F106).
Since this is also katakana, the process of the system controller 11 proceeds to step F112, and then proceeds to step F1.
Return to 02. Therefore, the display pointer is in the state of DP7 in FIG. 5, and the display unit 20 is in the state where "A" is displayed at the position of the fourth character as shown in FIG. 9H.

The operation of selecting the fourth character is performed in the same manner.
The user performs the enter operation in a state where “S” is displayed on the display unit 20 as shown in FIG. 6 (i) (the state of DP8 in FIG. 5). Then, the input of “S” as the fourth character is determined (F103, F106), and since the input is katakana, the process of the system controller 11 proceeds to step F112.
It returns to step F102. Therefore, the display pointer is D in FIG.
In the state of P9, the display unit 20 displays 5 as shown in FIG.
"A" is displayed at the position of the character.

Next, "2" is input as the fifth character. For this reason, the user performs, for example, a decrement operation with the jog dial 27, and displays "2" on the display section 20.
Is displayed. That is, the system controller 11 performs steps F104 and F105 in response to the decrement operation.
And the display pointer is changed from DP9 to DP in FIG.
Change in the direction of 10.

When the display pointer DP10 is reached, the display unit 20 displays "2" as the fifth character as shown in FIG. 9K. Here, when the enter operation is performed, the input of “2” is determined (F103, F106).
Since this is a numeral, the process of the system controller 11 proceeds to step F111 and then returns to step F102. Therefore, the display pointer is in the state of DP11 in FIG. 5, and the display unit 20 is in the state where "0" is displayed at the position of the sixth character as shown in FIG. 9 (l).

Finally, the sixth character selection operation is performed.
When the user performs an enter operation in a state where “1” is displayed on the display unit 20 as shown in FIG. 6M (the state of DP12 in FIG. 5), “1” is input as the sixth character. Is determined (F103, F106). After the process of the system controller 11 proceeds to step F111, the process returns to step F102.

If the user performs an operation for terminating character input, the process proceeds from step F102 to F113, and
The input character is finally determined to be "Texas 21", which is the updated content on the U-TOC. That is, the system controller 11 performs a process of writing the character to the slot on the U-TOC sector 1 corresponding to the designated track, and ends the character input mode. At this point, the U-TOC is updated with respect to the U-TOC data stored in the buffer memory 13, and the actual updating of the U-TOC with respect to the disk 1 is performed when, for example, the disk 1 is ejected. This may be performed when the power is turned off or when the power of the apparatus is turned off.

As described above, in this example, after a certain character input is determined, when selecting the next character, the first character of the group including the determined character is determined as the starting point for the increment / decrement operation. Is done. As a character input to be actually performed, characters in the same group are usually continuously selected in many cases. Therefore, since the starting point regarding the increment / decrement operation for selecting the next character is set to the head of the group of characters entered before that, the operation amount of the jog dial 27 until the selection of the desired character is greatly increased. It is possible to reduce the number of inputs, greatly improve the operability, and perform input in a short time.

By the way, in the above example, immediately after a certain character is entered, the character which is the starting point of the increment / decrement operation of the next character selection is displayed on the display unit 20, but immediately after the enter, The next character may be displayed as a blank. Then, when the next increment / decrement operation is performed, a selection may be made from the starting character set according to the immediately preceding enter character. For example, FIG.
This modified example will be described with respect to the display of (d).
Is displayed on the display unit 20 at the time when
] And leave the second character blank. At the timing when the increment / decrement operation is performed for one click for the selection of the second character, as shown in FIG. In such a case, the display of the second character is changed.

In the above-mentioned example, an example in which the character input device of the present invention is employed in a mini-disc recording / reproducing device has been described. However, the character input device of the present invention can be used to increment / decrement a dial operation unit or a key operation unit. The present invention can be suitably applied to any device that selects input characters by operation.

The method of character grouping, the number of groups, and the selection of characters included in each group are set according to various conditions such as the use environment of the device adopting the present invention, types of characters that can be input, and design circumstances. It is good to do. The arrangement order does not necessarily have to be set so as to rotate in a ring form. The input operation means only needs to be capable of at least one of an increment operation and a decrement operation.

[0084]

As described above, according to the present invention, an input character is selected and input is determined in accordance with the operation of the input operation means capable of performing the increment and / or decrement operation and the enter operation. The character input control means sets the characters included in the first character group to the n-th character group as inputtable characters, and sets a predetermined arrangement order for all the inputtable characters. Then, input characters can be selected in order according to the arrangement order by the increment or decrement operation of the input operation means, and when the input of a certain character is confirmed by the enter operation, the character selection by the next increment or decrement operation Starts from the head position of the character group including the input confirmed character. Considering that characters of the same type in the same group are often input consecutively in normal character input, the present invention provides an increment / decrement for character selection.
The amount of operation of decrement (the number of operations) is significantly reduced,
A desired character can be easily selected. This has the effect of simplifying and shortening the character input operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a recording / reproducing apparatus suitable for adopting the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a recording / reproducing device equipped with the character input device of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a character arrangement order in the character input device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a character input process performed by the character input device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a character input operation by the character input device of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a display state during a character input operation by the character input device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of U-TOC sector 0 of a disk.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a link configuration of U-TOC sector 0 of a disk.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a U-TOC sector 1 of a disk.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Disc 3 Optical head 11 System controller 13 Buffer memory 19 Operation part 20 Display part 27 Jog dial 29 Edit key

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. An increment for character selection and / or
Or an input operation means capable of performing a decrement operation and an enter operation for input character determination; and a first character group to an n-th character group each having various characters.
The characters included in the character group are set as inputtable characters, and a predetermined arrangement order is set for all the inputtable characters, and the input characters can be sequentially selected according to the arrangement order by the increment or decrement operation of the input operation means. In this way, if the input of a certain character is further confirmed by the enter operation, the character selection by the next increment or decrement operation is started from the head position of the character group including the input confirmed character. A character input control device comprising: 2. The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the first to n-th character groups are classified according to character types. 3. The input operation means according to claim 1, further comprising:
Increment and / or decrement for character selection
Jog to perform operation and enter operation by pressing operation
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the dial comprises a dial.
The character input device according to 1. 4. A character group corresponding to a plurality of different character types.
Sentence that reads out predetermined characters included in
In the character input method, From the above character groups to those included in a specific character group
Select a certain character, Confirm the selected predetermined character, A sentence to which the determined predetermined character belongs after the determining operation
Displays the first character of the character group and prepares for the next character input operation.
Character input method characterized by the ability to read. 5. Corresponding to each track recorded on a recording medium
Recording medium having a management area in which title names to be recorded are recorded
The recording device that records the title name corresponding to each track
In place Included in character groups corresponding to multiple different character types
While reading out predetermined characters sequentially,
Input operation means that can perform enter operation to determine , To the specific character group selected by the above input operation means
The operation of fixing the predetermined character to which it belongs is performed by the input operation means.
Later, the character group to which the determined predetermined character belongs
Control means for reading the first character and preparing for the next character input operation
When, Predetermined input sequentially and determined by the input operation means
Recording means for recording characters in the management area, A recording device comprising: 6. The input operation means according to claim 1, wherein said input operation means is capable of rotating a sentence.
Perform forward / backward operation for character selection, and press
Consists of a jog dial for enter operation
The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: